Device for automatically controlling the moving of heavy objects.



F. ANDIERSEN.

DEVICE FOR AUTOMATICALLY CONTROLLING THE MOVING OF HEAVY OBJECTS.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 12, I915- RENEWEDDEC. 21, ms.

1,293,296, I Patented Feb. 1,1919

. Fig.1.

SA L? FRIDTJ'OV ANDERSEN, 0F DRCBAK, NEAR CHIRISTIANIA, NORWAY.

DEVICE FOR AUTOMATICALLY CONTROLLING THE MOVING OF HEAVY OBJECTS.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRIDTJOV Annnnsnn, a subject of the King of Norway,residing at Drobak, near Christiania, Norway, have invented certain newand useful Improvements in Devices for Automatically Controlling theMoving of Heavy Objects; and I do hereby declare the following to be afull, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to lettersor figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of thisspecification.

This inventionrelates to devices for automatically controlling themovement of heavy objects, such as guns, by means of a light controllingor sighting apparatus, the movement of heavy object being dependent andas nearly as possible synchronous with the movement of the controllingapparatus.

The invention is particularly adapted for use in connection with theautomatic sighting and gun laying system described in my U. S. LettersPatent No. 1,167,247, dated January 4, 1916, but it will be easilyunderstood that the invention may also be applied on other systems forcontrolling the movement of a heavy object by means of a small and lightcontrolling mechanism.

In systems of the kind referred to the movement of the controllingmechanism in a certain direction relatively to the object under controlserves to actuate a relay or controlling valve which in turn cuts in themechanism for moving the object under control in the same direction. Inthe following the movements referred to will always be rotative but itis obvious that the same principles may also be applied on linearmovements.

When the object under control shall follow as closely as possible themovements of the controlling device it is obvious that the former mustbe capable of moving at least as quick as the latter and practically themovement of the controlled object must be quicker than the movement ofthe controlling device. It follows that the controlled object willperform a stepwise movement behind the controlling mechanism, theintervals between the steps being determined by i w the time requiredfor starting and stopping the driving mechanism of the object underSpecification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 4, 1919.

Renewed December 27, 1918. Serial No. 268,512.

control. In practice it has been found that the great number of startsand stops caused by such a controlling system has an injurious effect onthe machinery, causing an inordinate wear of the moving parts. 1

The object of the present invention is to provide a controllingmechanism of the kind referred to by the use of which the steps of themovement are made longer and less frequent so that no vibrations arecaused and the object under control will follow the movements of thecontrolling device with an adjustable degree of accuracy, without makinga great number of starts and stops necessary.

On the drawings:

Figure 1 is a diagrammatical plan of an embodiment of the invention asadapted on a gun laying system.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of a modified detail on a larger scale.

FFig. 3 is a section on the line IV-IV on Fig. 4 is a section on theline V-V on Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a section corresponding to Fig. 4 but with the parts inanother position.

Referring now to Fig. 1, 1 represents a sighting telescope and 2 a gun,both being shown in dotted lines for the sake ofclearness. The sightingtelescope is moved by means of the worm-gear 3, which may be ad usted byhand. The gun is mounted on the toothed disk 4 which meshes with theworm 5. On the shaft of said worm 5 are loosely mounted beveled gears 6,7 which mesh with a beveled gear 8 on the shaft of a continuouslyrotating motor 9 or other driving mechanism.

In connection with gears 6, 7 electric couphngs 10, 11 are mounted onthe shaft of worm 5, each of said couplings on being cut 1n actlng toconnect its gear to the shaft so that the same can be driven in oppositedirections by cutting in one or the other of said couplings.

Electric current is su plied to the couplmg 6 from the main l1nes 12, 13through felay514 and to the coupling 7 through re- The disk 4 isprovided with two contact bars 16, 17, the bar 16 being unbroken andconnected to the main line 13 by branch31. The other contact bar 17 isprovided with a middle insulated part 18 and on each side of or by anyother means, the interval before cutting in the driving mechanism fordisk a may be varied at will. Although the device is above described inconnection with the lateral adjustment of a gun it is obvious that thesame device may be applied for adjusting the elevation of a gun inaccordance with any known sighting device or oreograph, and it shouldalso be understood that the device may be adapted for the adjustment ofother objects than guns.

Claims:

1. In a device for automatically controlling the movement of one objectinaccordance with the movement of another object, means for moving thecontrolled object, means for moving the controlling object, the firstnamed means being adapted to move the controlled object at a greaterspeed than that of the controlling object, means for cutting in themoving means for the controlled object after the controlling object hasbeen moved a certain distance, and means controlled by the relativemovements of said objects for maintaining said moving means cut in untilthe original relative position of the controlled and controlling objectshas been reestablished.

2. In a device for automatically controlling the movement of one objectin accor ance with the movement of another object, means for moving thecontrolled object, means for moving the controlling object, the firstnamed means being adapted to move the controlled object at a greaterspeed than that of the controlling object, means actuated automaticallyby the controlling object for cutting in the moving means for thecontrolled object after the controlling object has been moved a certaindistance, and means controlled by the relative movements of said objectsfor maintaining said moving means cut in until the original relativeposition of the controlled and controlling objects has beenreestablished.

3. In a device for automatically controlling the angular movement of oneobject in accordance with the angular movement of another object, meansfor moving the con trolled object, means for moving the controllingobject, the first named means being adapted to move the controlledobject at a greater speed than that of the controlling object, a mainrelay for starting the moving means for the controlled object, meanscomprising a contact finger actuated by the movement or the controllingobject for cutting in said relay after the contact finger has been moveda certain distance, and means for keeping said relay cut in until thecontact finger has been moved back to its original relative positionwith the controlled object.

4. In a device for automatically controlling the angular movement of oneobject in accordance with the angular movement of another object, meansfor moving the controlled object, means for moving the controllingobject, the first named means being adapted to move the controlledobject ata greater speed than that of the controlling object, a mainrelay for startingthe moving means for the controlled object, acontactfinger actuated by the controlling object, a contact bar cooperatingwith said finger to cut in the main relay, means for retarding themoment of contact of said finger with the bar, andmeans fonkeeping therelay cut in until the original relative position of the controlled andthe controlling objects is reestablished.

5. In a device for automatically controlling the angular movement of oneobject in accordance with the angular movement of another object, meansfor moving the controlled object, means for moving the controllingobject, the first named means being adapted to move the controlledobject at a greater speed than that of the controlling object, a mainrelay for starting the moving means for the controlled object, a contactfinger actuated by the controlling object, a contact bar comprising aplurality of contacts cooperating with said finger to cut in the mainrelay, auxiliary relays connected to the several contacts, the firstauxiliary relay cut in by the finger when the same is brought out of itsmiddle position serving to cut out the main relay and the one last outin serving to cut in the main relay to delay the action of the contactfinger to cut in the main relay until it has moved a certain distancealong the contact bar and keeping the main relay cut in until theoriginal relative position of the controlled and the controlling objectsis established.

6. In a device for automatically controlling the angular movement of oneobject in accordance with the angular movement of another object, meansfor moving the controlled object, means for moving the controllingobject, the first named means being adapted to move the controlledobject at a greater speed than that of the controlling object, a mainrelay for starting the moving means for the controlled object, a contactfinger actuated by the controlling object, a contact bar cooperatingwith said finger to cut in the main relay and comprising two fixed andone intermediate adjustable contacts on each side of the middle positionof the finger, auxiliary relays connected to said contacts, the relaysconnected to the fixed contacts serving to cut out and cut in the mainrelay, and the relay connected to the adjustableeontact serving tocontrol the distance to be passed by the finger before reaching theouter contact and thereby cutting in the main relay.

7. In a. device of the character described,

- cutting in the latter actuated hythe station- Copies of this patentmay-beobtainedfor f In; testimony that I claim the foregoing as I mylnvention', I have'slg'ned my name 111 10 presence 'oftwo su'bscmbingwitnesses.

two stationary "contacts, [an adjustable Wedge-shaped plate intermediatesaid'stationary contacts a main relay, means for ary contact lastreached by the contact fin FRIDTJQV ANDERsE'N get, and meansfor cuttingout the main WVitnesses: i a relay actuatedby the contact first reachedM. E. GUT ORM EN, by the Contact finger. RQWANG. i

five cents each, by addressing the commissioner =or'raeema:- V

Washington, D. 0.? V

